European and US stock futures are trading almost unchanged in the pre-opening session, after a night when stock markets on the Asian continent lost some steam as China and the US resumed trade talks.
The futures contract of the Stoxx 50 – an index that groups the 50 largest quotations in the region – is losing 0.1%, in line with the futures of the American S&P 500. Overnight, the Japanese, South Korean, and Hong Kong indices fell between 0.1% and 0.6%, while Beijing’s Shanghai exchange managed to rise 0.2%.
Beijing and Washington had their first conversation on trade issues since Joe Biden is US president, via phone call, to follow up on negotiations between the two geographies.
This first conversation was “candid”, assured representatives from both sides, Katherine Kai (US Commerce Department) and Liu He (Chinese Vice President) after the White House said that the US was entering a period of great competition with China.
In focus remains the pressure of rising prices, which may affect the monetary policy of central banks, leading them to withdraw some of their stimulus. New Zealand’s central bank followed in Canada’s footsteps, saying it would raise interest rates starting next year.
Randal Quarles, the vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve, said that it will be important for the bank to start discussing a massive reduction of debt purchases from current levels if the economy continues to recover strongly.
